Wednesday, June 27, 2012

I started off by making strawberry muffins. You can find the recipe here.

My son did what he did with last year’s strawberries—crushed them (by hand!) and mixed them in with some orange juice. So as to avoid any further mess, the next time I asked him to run them through the Magic Bullet with the orange juice, rather than crushing them by hand.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

A few weeks ago, in one of my Insta-Friday cell phone photo posts, I showed you a sneak preview of some of the items I had purchased at a basket company's annual warehouse sale.

I have been going for many years now and I have SO many baskets. I would be embarrassed to show you just how many. Yes, I am addicted to baskets. Presumably to help me stay organized, but I have so many that it is an organizational problem in itself.

Friday, June 22, 2012

Quite frankly, I forgot to do my Insta-Friday cell phone pictures post today, because I thought it was Thursday for most of the morning. By the time I realized, my husband had taken the cell phone (and with it my photos) to work.

So, I am sharing one highlight from last weekend for now.

I’ll catch you up on the other stuff, including our look at the Nik Wallenda walk across Niagara Falls, next Friday.

Just before the amazing walk, my husband and I watched Ringo Starr at Casino Niagara. Ringo will be 72 soon. Pardon me?

Have you seen this guy? He is in incredible shape! This is a small clip from the show, filmed on our cell phone.

We just caught the end of the Ontario strawberry picking season yesterday. It’s so quick, I sometimes miss it.

Because of scheduling issues, my husband and I went without the kids this year. We’ll make sure they come with us when we go raspberry picking next month.

Last year, we used our abundance of strawberries in many different ways. The kids’ favourite way was homemade strawberry sorbet on top of peanut butter cake. You can read more about that here.

Once again this year, I will make a quick and simple strawberry jam in the bread maker. I also plan to make strawberry cupcakes and, of course, freeze any remaining strawberries for smoothies.

After a rainy evening on the soccer field last night, I couldn’t wait to get baking with my fresh picked strawberries. So, I decided to try making strawberry muffins. My kids thought that strawberries were an odd addition to muffins for some reason. They are more used to blueberries and chocolate chips in muffins.

This is a vegan recipe, but the Earth Balance margarine gives these fluffy muffins a nice “buttery” taste. I use light spelt flour, but regular flour would be fine too.I would probably add some nuts if the kids weren’t taking the muffins to school.

I am a big fan of muffins and I enjoyed one of these babies for breakfast this morning.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

With temperatures soaring, I don’t feel much like hanging around the stove for too long.

So, yesterday I prepared this simple summer salad, which features quinoa and chickpeas for a healthy and tasty vegetarian protein punch. I added dried cranberries for a sweet treat.

This light tasting dish makes a wonderful side dish, or use it as a main meal paired with a green salad. I served it with roasted asparagus as well as tofu slices quickly sautéed in a combination of Bragg’s (similar to soy sauce) and olive oil.

Monday, June 18, 2012

As I mentioned yesterday, we stopped in to visit my sister on Saturday on our way home from Niagara Falls.

My sister and I indulged in some cranberry-infused vodka mixed with Sprite while the kids enjoyed the swimming pool. And, no, we did not get too drunk to watch the kids.

We did leave my brother-in-law to watch them while my husband (who was not drinking) drove us to a couple of thrift stores. To tell you the truth, I hadn’t even thought of going. My sister is possibly even more addicted to the hunt than I am. But once she mentioned it—different thrift stores in a different town?—I just had to go.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

While I am by no means a tech junkie (I still borrow my husband’s cell phone), I am enjoying a new addiction to Instagram. Here's an Instagram pic of my son consuming a green smoothie on a recent shopping trip to the health food store. (He was looking tired...the kids had some late night events last week.)

I have discovered a significant benefit to Instagram—I get to look at other people’s food each and every day.

Friday, June 8, 2012

After a very busy week of dance recitals, a family birthday and a school family fun night, the kids certainly welcomed the PA Day today. Actually, my son always welcomes a break from school, whatever the reason.

Hi! I'm Joann, a Toronto, Canada freelance writer and mother of two kids and two beagle-mix rescue pups. Inspiration is all around us, but how often do we miss it as we speed through our days crossing things off our lists? Grab a cup of tea and join me in exploring the art in everyday life, including diy, decor, books and lots of easy-to-make, family-friendly vegan food.